A Most Fortunate Thing...

Before the Army arrived in Yellowstone, the park's future was in doubt as vandals destroyed thermal features, squatters sawed down trees, and poachers decimated herds of wildlife. The Army's greatest contribution to Yellowstone's history may have been bringing law and order to the park. In the winter of 1894, soldiers caught the notorious poacher Ed Howell killing buffalo, but because no laws existed to prosecute him, public indignation led Representative Lacey of Iowa to propose a bill to protect the birds and animals in Yellowstone National Park and punish crimes there. The House and Senate quickly passed what became known as the Lacey Act, and this and other laws enacted after Howell's capture were called by Yellowstone's Commander, Captain Anderson, "the most fortunate thing that ever happened to the park."

Mammoth, Wyoming · United States